Pioneer Clubs eNewsletter Printer-Friendly

September 2003

Dear Christian Leader,

Welcome to the latest edition of the Pioneer Clubs eNewsletter, where we provide resources to help you build your Pioneer Clubs ministry.

This month we want to give you a variety of club management tips to help you start off your club year.

10 Management Tips to Start Off Your Club Year

1. Set goals. Meet with your coleaders and choose several goals for your club year. Make them measurable so you can evaluate every so often to see how you’re doing. You might use some of Pioneer Clubs’ goals as a springboard:

To enable children to enter into a personal relationship with Christ and to know his Word. (One of your goals might be to present the plan of salvation a certain number of times during the year.)
To enable children to form healthy relationships. (One of your goals might be to interact with each child about nonclub things–interests, school, pets, etc.–a certain number of times each month.)
To enable children to grow as whole persons. (One of your goals might be to provide a variety of skill-building activities for the children.)

2. Plan club room rules. These are an important basis for good club management.

Have no more than five rules. If you have more than that, the kids will forget them.
State rules positively: “Only one person talks at a time” rather than “No talking out of turn.”
Keep rules understandable and observable: “Bring your handbook and Bible and your club outfit to the meeting.” “Keep your hands and your feet to yourself.”
Make the rules age-appropriate. Check the age characteristics chart in the front of your leader plan book.
Review the rules with the whole group regularly. You might have club members draw pictures to represent the rules. Then hang the pictures in club.

3. Plan logical consequences. When club members behave unacceptably, using logical consequences instead of punishment is likely to cause less resentment and promote better behavior. Think of possible logical consequences for the rules you’ve created. Logical consequences also work for situations not covered by the rules. Guidelines:

Ask yourself, “What could be a logical consequence of continuing to behave this way?” Ideas:
- Persisting in fighting over the markers results in losing the privilege of using them.
- Not cleaning the tables for Snack results in no place to have Snack.
Offer the choice between behaving acceptably and continuing the unacceptable behavior, which brings the logical consequence:
- “You may work out a way to share the markers or you may give up the markers for today. You choose.”
- “When you finish cleaning the tables, then we can have Snack.”
- “When you are ready to play the game by following the rules, you can rejoin the group.”
Give the choice just once, and then implement the consequence, if need be, in a firm but friendly way.

4. Prepare for meetings. About 80 percent of discipline problems can be avoided by being well-prepared when you walk in the door for club. Arrive early. Get the room and supplies set up. Know what you’re doing for each part of the meeting and be ready to transition smoothly from one part to the next. Club leaders offer these options for fitting planning into their busy schedules:

After each club meeting, stay at church and meet with coleaders to plan the next one.
“Meet” with coleaders by phone a few days before club to go over details.
Meet monthly and divide up responsibilities for a whole unit at a time.
If you’re always on the go, keep your Bible, plan book, and handbook in the car and plan during times when you’re waiting at school, the doctor’s office, and so on.

5. Prepare spiritually. Take time to let God speak to you as you prepare Bible Explorations and Bible Memory times. You’ll communicate with the kids much more effectively when what you’re saying has already made a difference in your life. Make a list of your club kids and pray for one each day in your devotional time. You could take individual photos at the beginning of the year and use them as prayer reminders. (You may need to get parental permission to take pictures.)

6. Decorate the door. In addition to preparing yourself and your club meetings, consider ways to make the club room kid- and parent-friendly. One idea is to hang a poster on the door listing the name and grades for your age-group (such as “Pathfinders, 3rd and 4th grades”). This will give kids a feeling of belonging and also help parents know where to bring kids. You could decorate the poster with images that fit your club name or theme. For example, for Pathfinders you could draw a winding path. Kids could then add their footprints and names.

7. Create puffy T-shirts. Another way to build unity in club is to plan a club outfit. Have club members and club leaders use puffy fabric paint to write all their names on the back of each person’s club T-shirt. The kids will get a kick out of the autographed shirts, and the leaders will have lasting reminders of “their” kids.

8. Post colorful posters in your club room. In addition to creating a poster for a door, you could also post in the club room a ready-made poster. These posters–available from Pioneer Clubs–allow kids to be able to see all of the awards they will have the opportunity to earn during their years in Voyagers (item #4100), Pathfinders (item #4200), and Trailblazers (item # 4300).

9. Plan to communicate with parents. Parents like club leaders to keep them posted on what’s happening in club.

Consider creating a simple parent newsletter to send or e-mail to parents each month. It could be as simple as a template that you duplicate and fill in each month, with information such as:

title and aims of the upcoming unit
concepts and verses kids learned in the previous unit
supplies to bring
upcoming events

If you want club members to pass along a message to parents, put a Pioneer Clubs sticker on the back of their hand. Tell them not to remove it until they’re conveyed the message.

10. Plan to communicate with kids. Be ready to contact kids who miss a meeting. If you personalize the contact, this will delight the kids and build relationships. Try a phone call, postcard, or e-mail. Include:

assurance that kids were missed
instructions on making up missed award work
what to bring to the next meeting

Changed Lives
“God has been doing marvelous things with our Pioneer Clubs. We started with 12-15 kids. We have now enrolled about 60 from Skippers to Trailblazers. These kids are so excited and make sure every person along their way is told about club. We needed van drivers to pick kids up and put a request in our Sunday bulletin. This ad ran for a few weeks with no response. One Sunday a man and a woman came forward and said they would do the job. The miracle of this story is their daughter attended Sunday School, but not very regularly, and God had placed a heavy burden on my heart for this child. Those two parents are my van drivers. We started with two kids on the van; we now have 29.”
–Deborah A. Miller, Faith Fellowship Church, Lebanon, Pennsylvania

Today’s Kids...
...need to feel special and important to significant adults. Learn club members’ names quickly, and use their names. Also, kids need consistency from adults. Calmly enforce the same rules every time. When adults are consistent, kids tend to push and test less, since they know where the limits are.

Pioneer Clubs Announcements

For U.S. Clubs.
- Keeping in Touch...
  Representatives from Pioneer Clubs will be calling some of our friends during late September/early October to thank you for your past giving, let you know what’s going on in the ministry, and ask for your continued support. We look forward to chatting with you!
- Autumn Kids for Kids Hike
  Now clubs can participate in the Kids for Kids Hike in the spring or in the fall. Our official autumn hike date is October 18, 2003 (or whatever date best suits your club). An autumn hike provides a terrific kickoff for your club year and increases your club’s visibility. It’s also a great way to get unchurched kids involved in club early in the year. All the information you need is at Pioneer Clubs’ Web site at www.pioneerclubs.org, or call 800-694-2582 and ask for the Development Department. Be sure to let us know your hike plans!
For Canadian Clubs.
- Please read the September Coordinators' News for the latest announcements.

Reflections

“Our children are watching us live, and what we ARE shouts louder than anything we can say.”
–Wilferd A. Peterson

Lighter Side

After telling children the story of Adam and Eve, a Sunday school teacher asked them to draw a picture. One little boy drew a Cadillac with three people in it. When told it had nothing to do with the story, he looked up in astonishment and replied, “But you said that God drove them out of the garden!”